Beware of Offense
Source URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JsDcn84FRo
Video ID: 4JsDcn84FRo
YouTube upload date: 2024-03-10
Video duration: 01:47:51
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[00:00:03] Lord, that's our prayer right there. Holy Spirit wants you to rest upon us. I want you to lead us and guide us into all truth. Holy Spirit wants you to anoint us with power and let your gifts flow through us so we can minister to others more effectively. We need your power and anointing to be witnesses, to win the loss to you, to bring the backslider and the prodigal home. Lord, I just ask for your guidance today.
[00:03:59] I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated this morning. Well, how is everybody? Y'all doing good? Well, I stayed up till about 3.30 in the morning finishing a PowerPoint for part two of Preterism, debunking that nonsense. But I think we're going in a different direction this morning.
[00:04:33] So I hope you have your Bibles with you. We're going to go through Scripture this morning, but I have a word to share with you from the Lord this morning because this not this past Wednesday night prayer meeting, but the Wednesday night before, after we had a season of prayer, I had the Holy Spirit speak to me very clearly.
[00:04:58] And he said these words to me. And I think now I was wondering when he was going to have me share it to our church here and those who watch and listen, our extended church family out there. But it's it's an important word that we need to get a hold of all of us, especially in the days ahead.
[00:05:17] Because the Lord just simply said to me, he said, beware of offense. And let me just go ahead and tell you right now, if you don't think you can be offended, trust me, the devil can find a way to see to it that somebody rubs you the wrong way, says the wrong thing, doesn't do what you think they ought to do or say something the way they ought to say it.
[00:05:48] But something's going to happen to make you get offended and you have to choose that you're not going to allow yourself to be offended. And it's this is just I can't stress this enough because.
[00:06:08] If we want the anointing of the Holy Spirit on our lives, then we cannot be easily offended.
[00:06:17] A lot of times we need to just let some things just run off our back like water off a duck's back, right? But let me tell you when it's really, really easy for church folk to get offended with their leaders and with pastors real easy.
[00:06:36] Now, you know, James said, look, we're going to offend people, people who are teachers and leaders, body of Christ. There's no way that you're going to teach the truth of God's word and do it boldly and not offend somebody.
[00:06:55] Now, I'm just going to tell you this morning, I've already offended some folks last week because I said I was just too harsh, just too harsh sometimes.
[00:07:04] And I want to deal with that because that's something that you can get offended over is when somebody you feel like somebody is rebuked, corrected, said something a little too strong.
[00:07:15] And look, I'm I really understand that some of you watching. Listen, I got your emails, some a few emails this week. I understand that some of you are on the more sensitive side. I understand that.
[00:07:29] OK, and you're used to Joel Osteen type preachers. That's all you've said under. It's all you've ever heard. I understand. I do, but I ain't that.
[00:07:42] OK, now let me explain something to you is also about this. Jesus, how many of it we know we believe Jesus Christ, the Jesus of the Bible, God in the flesh who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead.
[00:07:56] That Jesus, we believe the Bible teaches very clearly that he never sinned that he always did the will of his father and if his two commandments, top two commandments, love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbors yourself.
[00:08:15] If Jesus never sinned, that mean he kept those two as he walked this earth to be an example to us that he kept those two commandments without fault.
[00:08:24] My correct. Everybody agree. Jesus never sinned. OK, but I can tell you right now, if Jesus came in here today disguised as someone else and I say a guest preacher, I was going to have.
[00:08:41] And if he did and said some of the things that he did and said in the New Testament, you would be offended. Some of you might even get up and walk out. I've got a little list for you. I want to deal with this this morning.
[00:08:58] Go to Matthew. Let's put up Matthew chapter twenty three first year, because let me just tell you getting rebuked and corrected even sharply, even firmly is part of being a Christian.
[00:09:25] Now, I know that this is not commonplace in most churches because most churches go. Their goal is we don't want to offend anybody. So we want to keep things is watered down as shallow as possible so that we can keep as many people in the seats and giving in the offering as we possibly can.
[00:09:50] And so there's very little rebuke, correction, instruction, even rebuke to the point of really hurting your feelings a little bit. And this is where, again, you're going to have to be careful because if if you want to be people all the time to, oh, we want to be in a church like yours.
[00:10:11] I'm like, do you do you really? It's easy to be a church member from afar. Isn't that right, Jordan? Jordan's being corrected a time or two, right? But Jordan's still here, not offended. Right now, let's look at this. I want to show you something. This is Matthew. I guess I ought to turn there because I'm completely changing the message today. But I want to show you some. This is Jesus. Let's go to verse one. This is Matthew twenty three verse one.
[00:10:46] Then speak Jesus to the multitude. Was he in private? No, he was in public. Then speak Jesus to the multitude into his disciples saying describes in the Pharisees sit in Moses seat all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe and observe and do. But do not after their works for they say and do not for they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born.
[00:11:11] They lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves would not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylactries and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the upper most seats at the feast and the chief seats in the synagogue and greetings in the marketplaces and to be called of men. Rabbi, Rabbi.
[00:11:31] He says, but be you not called Rabbi for one is your master, even Christ, and you're all brethren and call no man your father upon the earth for one is your father, which is in heaven. Neither be called masters for one is your master, even Christ, but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, he calls them.
[00:12:01] Hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against man, for you need to go in yourselves, neither suffer them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you devour widows houses and for pretense make long prayer. Therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.
[00:12:18] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you can pass sea and land to make one proselyte, that's a convert. And when he is made, you make him two fold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, you blind guides would say, whoever so swear by the temple is nothing, but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Jesus calls them here, you fools and blind. For whether is greater is the gold of the temple that sanctifies the gold.
[00:12:50] And whosoever shall swell by the altar, it is nothing, but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon the altar, he is guilty. He said, you fools and blind, whether is greater the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift.
[00:13:00] And he just goes on and on. This keeps going. He calls them blind. Verse 24, blind guides. He said, he tells them in verse 25, you may clean the outside of the cup, but your inside is filthy.
[00:13:15] Woe unto you, verse 27, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whited sepulchers, tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within they are full of dead men's bones.
[00:13:25] He says, outwardly you appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy.
[00:13:30] So here Jesus is just, he rebukes them. And if I sat here this morning and called you guys a den of vipers to fold the children of hell, hypocrites.
[00:13:48] If I went on this little rant right here this morning, y'all would be all upset. But this is in the red. So who said this?
[00:14:04] Now, this is why if you go to go, go to Matthew chapter 11 real quick, Jesus made this statement and get ready to put up those definitions that I sent you.
[00:14:26] Go to Matthew 11, verse one. And it came to pass when Jesus had made an end of commanding his 12 disciples. He departed the ants to teach and preach in their cities.
[00:14:44] Now, when John had heard in the prison, the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, art thou he that should come or do we look for another?
[00:14:52] And Jesus answered and said unto them, go and show John again those things which you do here and see.
[00:14:58] The blind receive their sight and the lame walk and the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
[00:15:07] Look at verse six and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. Now, why would Jesus have to say you're blessed if you don't get offended with me?
[00:15:23] Jesus was perfect. Never sinned. Always walked in love. But Jesus knew that he would always tell you the truth, even if it hurt you.
[00:15:37] He would tell you what you really are, even if it hurts you. Let me just go and tell you, you're not a poor pitiful little lost soul.
[00:15:47] If you're an adulterer, you're if you are habitually living in adultery, you're an adulterer. If you're a habitual liar, you're a liar.
[00:15:57] Oh, Pastor Dean, don't call me a liar. Well, do you lie all the time? If you're a habitual drunkard, you're a drunkard.
[00:16:11] But see, we don't want to talk about those things. The church world doesn't want to talk about those things.
[00:16:15] And that's why we have the problems that we have because we don't just plainly boldly without beating around the bush.
[00:16:24] We try to be sensitive to everybody's little emotions and we just don't call a spade a spade. And that's just the problem.
[00:16:35] And I want to tell you, I've spent my Christian life. It's not because I don't love people. It's because I do love people.
[00:16:43] I've spent my Christian life making sure that I told people the truth, even if it was uncomfortable, because I know that only the truth can set you free.
[00:16:54] So if you live in some fantasy that you're right with God when you really aren't and I come along and comfort you in your deception, in your delusion,
[00:17:07] then I don't love you no matter how loving and sensitive I act. And this is what's wrong with the church world.
[00:17:17] They act loving. They act sensitive. But they never really tell you the hard truth.
[00:17:25] You see, because we've been taught you're once saved, always saved, no matter how you live.
[00:17:32] So guess what? It pretty much doesn't matter what you do. God just loves you just the way you are.
[00:17:37] You poor little sinner. You just can't help yourself. That's not what the Bible teaches.
[00:17:44] It says you're to repent, turn from sin. You're to live a holy life. You're to obey the Lord.
[00:17:51] And part of that is being able to be humble enough to be rebuked and corrected and just told what it is straight up.
[00:18:03] Some people got themselves offended last week because I got on some of these people that are teaching this false doctrine of preterism,
[00:18:10] which teaches that Jesus came in 70 A.D. and some of them are teaching the millennial reigns already happened.
[00:18:16] And all this nonsense is complete error, this complete false doctrine.
[00:18:21] I know they're just old, just crying, oh, oh, Pastor Dean, there's people out there.
[00:18:27] They just don't know any better. They're just caught up in the air. Okay.
[00:18:31] But let me tell you something. You're the poor little deceived individual that you're just helpless.
[00:18:39] If you take some false doctrine that you are sympathizing with and starting to believe
[00:18:45] and you start sharing it on social media to your friends and your family, you have become a teacher of it.
[00:18:52] You're no longer just a questioning soul. I'm just asking questions.
[00:19:01] Did you share it on your Facebook page? Did you share it on Instagram?
[00:19:06] Are you telling people, I think this might be the truth?
[00:19:13] See, the moment you start doing that, you're a teacher of it.
[00:19:16] And if you're a teacher of false doctrine, guess what you are? A false teacher.
[00:19:26] And see, I got these folks, I think it's 800, 900 comments I hadn't even checked
[00:19:31] because I said, anybody that teaches that Jesus' second coming has already happened
[00:19:36] or happened in 70 AD and the millennial reign's already passed
[00:19:40] and we're in some short season after the millennial reign, I'm just like, these people,
[00:19:46] you do not know the scriptures. You don't know the Bible well enough to be teaching it.
[00:19:52] You're in error and you're false teachers. It's real simple.
[00:19:57] I'll tell you this right now. If you're teaching, you're once saved, always saved,
[00:20:00] always saved no matter how you live, that you can't fall away from God and be lost.
[00:20:03] If you want to live in sin, then you're a false teacher.
[00:20:06] If you say the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for today, that God doesn't do that anymore,
[00:20:11] there's no such thing as miracles, healings, or the gift of tongues,
[00:20:14] or interpretation of tongues, or prophecy, there's no more dreams and visions from God.
[00:20:19] God doesn't speak to people anymore. You're a false teacher.
[00:20:22] And I'll tell you right now, if you teach any of the tenets of Calvinism, you're a false teacher.
[00:20:28] That goes for Mr. John MacArthur, one of the biggest false teachers that lives out there.
[00:20:34] Well, oh, Pastor Dean, you shouldn't start saying names.
[00:20:39] Well, Paul did. He talked about Hymenaeus and Philetas who said,
[00:20:43] the resurrection is past already and overthrow the faith of some.
[00:20:47] He said, Dean must have forsaken me having loved this present world.
[00:20:52] Alexander the copper smith did me much evil. The Lord reward him for his works.
[00:20:58] Oh, that doesn't sound too loving.
[00:21:00] You know, that was the whole debate between Barnabas and Paul when they separated.
[00:21:11] You know what Barnabas, why Barnabas was offended with Paul?
[00:21:14] And they had such a strong division that they separated because Paul refused to take John Mark on their next journey.
[00:21:22] Well, why did John Mark, why was there an issue with John Mark?
[00:21:25] Because when when Illimus the sorcerer got in the way and was trying to interfere with Paul,
[00:21:31] leading Sergius Paulus to Jesus, Paul turns by the auction of the Holy Spirit,
[00:21:38] rebukes this guy and curses him with blindness for a season.
[00:21:43] And John Mark was, oh, we can't be doing that.
[00:21:46] He loving and John Mark runs off because he's a little too sensitive.
[00:21:51] And so when it got time for them to go on the next missionary journey and Barnabas wanted to take
[00:21:55] his nephew, John Mark, Paul said, we're not taking him.
[00:21:58] He's not stable enough.
[00:22:00] He's not strong enough to handle real ministry.
[00:22:04] That's what it was all about.
[00:22:06] And we've had folks leave here because they just can't handle real ministry.
[00:22:16] I'm going to show you.
[00:22:18] I'm going to show you how real it gets.
[00:22:20] This is y'all okay with that?
[00:22:23] Can we see?
[00:22:24] Because I told people, I said with me as your pastor, it's not a matter of
[00:22:31] if you will be offended.
[00:22:32] You will at some point.
[00:22:34] I assure you, I promise you, you'll be offended by something.
[00:22:38] I say something I do or something.
[00:22:40] I don't do because guess what?
[00:22:42] I'm not perfect.
[00:22:43] I'm certainly not Jesus.
[00:22:45] So I'm not going to always do what you expect me to do.
[00:22:48] I'm not always going to say what you would like me to say.
[00:22:51] I mean, there's some people get offended if you don't shake their hand every Sunday morning.
[00:22:56] Sometimes I can't get to you.
[00:22:58] I'm sorry, because I'm running late myself.
[00:23:01] You understand?
[00:23:03] But we can get offended and upset over some small things.
[00:23:08] Let's go to the Book of Titus.
[00:23:15] Can we just do Bible this morning?
[00:23:17] I promise you everything I'm going to say, I will back it up.
[00:23:21] Titus.
[00:23:28] Yes, Titus.
[00:23:29] Chapter one.
[00:23:30] I remember when God called me to the ministry when I was 19 years old,
[00:23:41] I spent a lot of time.
[00:23:42] I would read and reread and study all the words that Paul wrote to Titus
[00:23:49] and to Timothy, these young pastors that he was training.
[00:23:54] And I would look up the meanings of these words.
[00:23:57] And guess what?
[00:23:58] I found they weren't always be sensitive to everybody's little feelings.
[00:24:06] So we don't hurt anybody.
[00:24:08] That's not what we're supposed to do.
[00:24:11] Now, my wife will tell you, babe, babe is with me in counseling all the time.
[00:24:17] I'm very sweet and gentle to people, especially people that have been wounded.
[00:24:22] But you all have to understand something.
[00:24:24] When I'm preaching, it's a shotgun blast.
[00:24:28] And I may not be talking to you when I'm being firm about somebody that's into
[00:24:35] something or teaching something they shouldn't be.
[00:24:37] It may not be you.
[00:24:39] I like what Woody said in the Toy Story, if the boot fits, right?
[00:24:46] If the boot's not for you, don't get offended about the boot, okay?
[00:24:53] If you're not teaching false doctrine, then it doesn't apply to you, right?
[00:24:59] But I get people all the way and I say, oh, he's talking about me.
[00:25:03] No, I may not be talking about you.
[00:25:05] You have to understand, I don't know every single individual that listens out of the, you know,
[00:25:12] our church is small.
[00:25:13] But the Lord told me in 2010, he said, your church is the five loaves and the two fish.
[00:25:20] He told me this, this is before we, there was even, we even had the ability to
[00:25:24] broadcast or livestream for free and all this stuff that we have now.
[00:25:28] The Lord said to me, I was in prayer and he said, your church is going to be a small lunch.
[00:25:37] He said, but I'm going to multiply it and I'm going to feed thousands of people.
[00:25:41] And I didn't understand what that meant until now, you know, quite a few years later,
[00:25:49] I see what he's done.
[00:25:51] He's kept us a small little lunch here, little five loaves and two fish.
[00:25:56] But he has multiplied what we've been doing here, teaching and preaching here,
[00:26:02] praying here.
[00:26:04] He's taken that to thousands.
[00:26:08] I mean, it's thousands every week.
[00:26:10] Even when they started censoring us, we still go to thousands.
[00:26:13] Before they censored us, just on YouTube alone,
[00:26:16] we were having 80 to 100,000 views a month.
[00:26:20] And then they started censoring us, found out from some people that listen in
[00:26:26] South Africa that they censor me in South Africa that you can't,
[00:26:30] they can't even find me unless they type in my name specifically.
[00:26:34] Like it's, it's difficult to find.
[00:26:37] So this guy that contacted us in South Africa does it work.
[00:26:42] He's going to try to set up something where maybe we can be found a little
[00:26:45] easier in Africa.
[00:26:47] But we're still, God still has this with the ability,
[00:26:53] which I can't believe I'm still on Facebook.
[00:26:56] I don't know how that is continued.
[00:26:59] But we are.
[00:27:02] And depending on the topic, anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 views.
[00:27:08] So God's doing what he said.
[00:27:11] So look, I'm going to talk about some stuff.
[00:27:14] I'm going to deal with some situations and people that are,
[00:27:18] you know, y'all have no idea the rude,
[00:27:22] insulting people that I deal with on a regular basis.
[00:27:28] And so sometimes I'm talking to them.
[00:27:31] Okay.
[00:27:34] Just like Jesus was talking to these Pharisees.
[00:27:36] So if don't get your feelings hurt.
[00:27:42] And if you do, stop being a cupcake.
[00:27:45] It's time to toughen up a little bit.
[00:27:49] Let's read this in Titus chapter one.
[00:27:51] Paul sends his young son in the faith here that he's training.
[00:27:57] He's finally sends him out.
[00:27:59] Paul is servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
[00:28:02] according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth,
[00:28:06] which is after godliness in hope of eternal life,
[00:28:09] which God that cannot lie promise before the world began,
[00:28:12] but hath in due times manifested his word through preaching,
[00:28:16] which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God, our Savior.
[00:28:21] To Titus, my own son, after the common faith,
[00:28:24] grace, mercy, and peace from God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
[00:28:29] For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou should have set in order
[00:28:34] the things that are wanting or lacking and ordain elders in every city.
[00:28:39] As I appointed thee, he says,
[00:28:41] if any be blameless, the husband of one wife,
[00:28:44] having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly,
[00:28:47] for a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God,
[00:28:50] not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, not a striker,
[00:28:56] he's not a constant brawler and get into fights,
[00:28:59] not given to just wanting money, filthy lucre,
[00:29:02] but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men,
[00:29:06] sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast.
[00:29:10] He says right here, verse 9,
[00:29:12] holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught
[00:29:15] that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort
[00:29:19] and to convince the gainsayers.
[00:29:22] Why?
[00:29:23] For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers,
[00:29:27] especially they of the circumcision,
[00:29:30] whose mouths must be stopped,
[00:29:33] whose subvert whole house is teaching things
[00:29:35] which they ought not for filthy lucre sake.
[00:29:38] One of themselves, even a prophet of their own,
[00:29:40] said the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
[00:29:45] This witness is true.
[00:29:47] I mean, the Cretans were going to read this.
[00:29:51] He said this witness is true.
[00:29:54] Wherefore, rebuke them sharply,
[00:29:57] that they may be sound in the faith,
[00:29:59] not giving heed to Jewish fables
[00:30:01] and the commandments of men that turn from the truth.
[00:30:07] He said rebuke them sharply.
[00:30:10] Everybody see that in your Bible?
[00:30:12] Rebuke them sharply.
[00:30:17] And he just got through calling them all liars,
[00:30:20] evil beasts, and slow bellies.
[00:30:23] Oh, Paul's calling people names.
[00:30:28] Shame, shame, shame on him.
[00:30:31] But if the boot fits, right?
[00:30:38] If it's true, is it wrong?
[00:30:44] Now, if it's a lie, if it's not true, then it's slander.
[00:30:47] But if it's true,
[00:30:50] and this is why I want to encourage some of you out there,
[00:30:54] very strongly, if you don't want to get called a false teacher,
[00:31:03] don't teach false doctrine.
[00:31:06] It's real simple.
[00:31:11] You don't want to get called a drunkard?
[00:31:14] Don't be drunk every weekend.
[00:31:17] You don't want to be called a pothead?
[00:31:20] Quit smoking dope, right?
[00:31:27] Oh, you shouldn't call him a pothead.
[00:31:31] It's funny.
[00:31:33] They call themselves that.
[00:31:34] They say, Pastor Dean, that's just too strong.
[00:31:45] Let me show you something.
[00:31:48] Jesus said stuff he knew would offend.
[00:31:51] Let's go to Matthew 15.
[00:31:56] Remember this message.
[00:31:58] Beware of offense.
[00:32:01] I'm going to show you something.
[00:32:02] People who refuse to be offended will get the blessing of God
[00:32:11] and the anointing of God.
[00:32:14] I'm going to show you this.
[00:32:15] But we're going to read this first part of Matthew 15 first,
[00:32:19] and then we'll read the second part.
[00:32:21] It'll be in Matthew 15 for a minute, all right?
[00:32:23] Listen to this.
[00:32:25] Verse 1.
[00:32:26] He then came to Jesus, scribes and Pharisees,
[00:32:30] which were of Jerusalem, saying,
[00:32:32] Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders,
[00:32:36] for they wash not their hands when they eat bread?
[00:32:39] But he, Jesus answered and said to them,
[00:32:42] Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
[00:32:46] For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother,
[00:32:49] and he that curses father and mother, let him die the death.
[00:32:52] But you say whosoever shall say to his father and mother,
[00:32:54] it is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me,
[00:32:58] and honored not his father and his mother, he shall be free.
[00:33:02] Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
[00:33:07] Then Jesus is talking to them.
[00:33:09] He's talking to these scribes and Pharisees, these religious leaders,
[00:33:11] and he says, You hypocrites.
[00:33:13] So he called them what they were.
[00:33:15] Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
[00:33:19] This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth,
[00:33:21] and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
[00:33:27] But in vain do they worship me,
[00:33:29] teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
[00:33:33] Can we stop right there for a second?
[00:33:36] Jesus said, what?
[00:33:38] In vain do they worship me,
[00:33:41] because they teach the commandments of men for doctrine.
[00:33:48] I'm going to tell you right now, if God hadn't called you to teach,
[00:33:56] you better not be teaching.
[00:33:59] If you hadn't spent a lot of time studying,
[00:34:01] and I'm talking about a lot of time,
[00:34:03] and know God has told you to go teach,
[00:34:06] you better not be teaching.
[00:34:10] The problem with a lot of these people out here
[00:34:12] is that they are not ready to teach.
[00:34:14] They think they know the Bible.
[00:34:16] Remember, I upset somebody last because I said people don't know the Bible well enough.
[00:34:21] And if something Jesus said, he told the Pharisees,
[00:34:23] You think, you know, but go search the Scriptures.
[00:34:30] See, that was their problem.
[00:34:31] The scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
[00:34:36] they knew some Bible.
[00:34:37] They just didn't know it well enough
[00:34:39] to actually recognize the Messiah standing right in front of them.
[00:34:47] And that's what's scary, folks.
[00:34:49] You want to get in pride.
[00:34:52] You want to get arrogant.
[00:34:53] You want to think more of yourself than you are.
[00:34:55] You want to think you're ready to do stuff you're not ready to do.
[00:35:01] Guess what happens?
[00:35:02] Obadiah, only one chapter, verse 3, says,
[00:35:06] The pride of thine heart hath to see thee.
[00:35:09] And what'll happen?
[00:35:10] You'll deceive yourself.
[00:35:11] And then all kinds of delusions come in.
[00:35:16] I mean, I know I was a little upset last because I had, you know,
[00:35:19] 20 something's and 30 something say,
[00:35:21] you know, you should just read the Bible.
[00:35:23] And I'm like, I was reading the Bible when you were before you were born.
[00:35:29] And I thought to myself, that's the most arrogant thing you could say
[00:35:32] to a pastor who's been in the ministry for 36 years.
[00:35:36] Read the Bible like I haven't read it.
[00:35:40] And then I know that they're teaching stuff
[00:35:42] that they don't understand how to rightly divide it and balance it
[00:35:45] with stuff that's all over the Bible because they just don't know it.
[00:35:48] They just don't know it to do it.
[00:35:50] But they're so confident because they got a couple of scriptures.
[00:35:53] They think they know it's just, that's the doctrine.
[00:35:56] And no, it's not unless you make it, what, work with everything else.
[00:36:04] It's very easy, very easy to make the mistake
[00:36:09] of taking something out of the context of the whole.
[00:36:13] Very easy.
[00:36:17] That's what they do with this generation,
[00:36:19] shall not pass to all these things.
[00:36:21] That's the big thing.
[00:36:23] If you want to know Preterism's whole argument, it's that one right there.
[00:36:25] Jesus was talking to that generation right then and there.
[00:36:29] That's the one he said will see his second coming.
[00:36:31] So it had to be those people there.
[00:36:34] It had to be in their lifetime.
[00:36:37] And no, the context is all the things Jesus said would happen
[00:36:43] before his second coming, including the stars falling from heaven.
[00:36:47] And he said, those who see all these things, this generation,
[00:36:54] and actually the word in Greek can be this or that.
[00:37:01] But the context is the generation that sees all those things.
[00:37:05] So if the stars didn't fall in 70 AD
[00:37:08] and the last time I walked outside on a clear night and checked,
[00:37:11] they're still up there.
[00:37:14] To me, that's the biggest. That's like the easiest.
[00:37:18] So see, once you know, like Jesus said, the stars will fall.
[00:37:23] All the stars will fall.
[00:37:25] And then they will see the sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds.
[00:37:30] Well, guess what? The stars didn't fall in 70 AD.
[00:37:33] Oh, and by the way, I'd forgotten.
[00:37:37] I had to reread it last night.
[00:37:39] Guess what? You know, the Bible says when Jesus returns, right,
[00:37:43] the millennial reign begins and there's no war, no more.
[00:37:47] How many of you know that the Jewish-Roman war went on until 73 AD?
[00:37:54] Yeah, Jerusalem fell.
[00:37:57] But there were three more factions of Jews still fighting the Romans
[00:38:01] for three more years.
[00:38:03] Everybody heard of Masada was the final stand.
[00:38:09] Hmm. I guess that prophecy of no more war during the millennial reign
[00:38:14] that it's a reign of peace just slipped by them.
[00:38:19] But you see, it's so what I'm saying is it's so easy to take a false.
[00:38:24] That's what I told I was talking to my wife.
[00:38:27] I said, this is why you have to know the Bible.
[00:38:30] And sometimes there's no substitute for years.
[00:38:34] There's things that took me decades of constant study
[00:38:38] and re-study and study and re-study
[00:38:41] and studying the whole thing before I understood it.
[00:38:45] I used to tell the Lord I've shared this many times.
[00:38:47] If I didn't understand something, I would say,
[00:38:49] I don't understand this.
[00:38:50] Please help me understand it.
[00:38:51] I would just keep studying it until the Holy Spirit led me to the truth
[00:38:55] so I could reconcile something I didn't understand.
[00:39:04] This is so serious.
[00:39:07] But he tells them this.
[00:39:08] Now, let's keep reading this.
[00:39:09] I love this.
[00:39:10] So Jesus tells them their hearts far from him.
[00:39:13] They honor with his mouth, but they're in vain.
[00:39:16] They worship him, teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men.
[00:39:19] I love this.
[00:39:22] Verse 10, it says,
[00:39:24] And I want to say this real quick.
[00:39:26] I better not catch anybody in this church judging anybody
[00:39:28] about what they eat or they don't eat.
[00:39:30] Get your nose out of the air.
[00:39:32] If somebody wants to eat pork and you think you shouldn't,
[00:39:34] that you don't want to eat pork,
[00:39:36] it ain't your business whether they eat pork or not.
[00:39:38] Mind your own business and quit thinking you're holier than they are
[00:39:43] because you only eat herbs.
[00:39:45] That one's free.
[00:39:49] But he said that,
[00:39:50] it's not that which goes in the mouth, which defiles the man,
[00:39:52] but that which cometh out of the mouth.
[00:39:54] This defiles the man.
[00:40:04] And look at verse 12.
[00:40:29] If they be blind leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind,
[00:40:32] both shall fall into the ditch.
[00:40:34] Think about this.
[00:40:37] Think about this.
[00:40:38] Jesus told his disciples, don't fool them.
[00:40:46] Oh, that doesn't sound too loving.
[00:40:48] Now, does it?
[00:40:50] Shouldn't they want to win them to Jesus?
[00:40:56] People get all upset with me when I start blocking people on my social media.
[00:41:01] Well, guess why I start blocking people?
[00:41:05] I'm going to give you, if you're asking questions, it's fine.
[00:41:08] I'm going to try to answer your question.
[00:41:10] But if you start trying to use my social media to promote your false doctrine,
[00:41:18] bye-bye now.
[00:41:21] I'm going to help you leave.
[00:41:24] Go do that on your page.
[00:41:25] People say, oh, free speech.
[00:41:26] No, free speech on your page, not on mine.
[00:41:34] Do you all think I would let anybody just come in here in this pulpit
[00:41:37] and start teaching and preaching whatever they wanted?
[00:41:39] Or stuff that's false?
[00:41:42] I would not allow that.
[00:41:45] I mean, we've got people, they're all offended at me
[00:41:47] because I started blocking them.
[00:41:49] Oh, my block list, y'all, is so long.
[00:41:53] My block list is a megachurch.
[00:41:57] It is.
[00:41:59] It's thousands.
[00:42:06] Thousands upon, I kid you not, it's thousands upon thousands
[00:42:10] over the, what, I've been on Facebook since 2008, I guess.
[00:42:17] But why?
[00:42:19] And it's amazing that, oh, no.
[00:42:22] Just be able to have the discussion.
[00:42:23] I said, no, no, no.
[00:42:24] Because what was happening, people were coming on my page
[00:42:26] giving their preterist false doctrine,
[00:42:29] and there are other people, young believers coming on there going,
[00:42:32] oh, I probably, I'm going to need to check that out.
[00:42:34] No, not from me you're not.
[00:42:39] You do that, you want to go down the road of error and deception,
[00:42:42] you're going to do that on your own page and your own time.
[00:42:46] I'm not going to help you.
[00:42:47] I'm not going to facilitate it.
[00:42:48] I'm not going to assist you.
[00:42:50] In fact, Romans, just put this up.
[00:42:54] We're going to come right back to Matthew 15.
[00:42:56] But Romans 16, oh, what verse is it?
[00:43:04] 17, I think, yeah.
[00:43:07] This is what he says to people that are in error.
[00:43:11] He says, I beseech you, brethren, mark them,
[00:43:13] which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine
[00:43:16] which you have learned and avoid them.
[00:43:20] Why?
[00:43:21] He says it right here.
[00:43:22] This is why you mark and avoid.
[00:43:25] For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ
[00:43:28] but their own belly and by good words and fair speeches
[00:43:31] deceive the hearts of the simple.
[00:43:36] So he says you mark and avoid people who are teaching
[00:43:39] doctrines that are contrary to the scriptures,
[00:43:42] to what you have learned, the foundational,
[00:43:44] particularly the foundational doctrines of the Bible.
[00:43:47] And the second coming of Jesus, folks,
[00:43:49] is a foundational doctrine of the Bible.
[00:43:52] And the resurrection, which is some call the rapture
[00:43:57] when that happens, and who's going to be in that,
[00:43:59] and the judgment seat of Christ,
[00:44:01] and the eternal damnation, or eternal rewards in heaven.
[00:44:05] These are all foundational doctrines, okay?
[00:44:08] Which is why I'm rebuking.
[00:44:10] Somebody said, somebody said, I've got the,
[00:44:12] why is he so triggered?
[00:44:14] I ain't triggered?
[00:44:15] No, no, no.
[00:44:18] They've been making videos about me,
[00:44:19] calling me everything, the child of the devil
[00:44:21] and everything else,
[00:44:22] because I don't believe in their
[00:44:23] Tataria millennial reign nonsense.
[00:44:26] But I'm all of a sudden a child of the devil.
[00:44:28] No, I'm not triggered.
[00:44:30] I'm just sad for you, because you are a false teacher.
[00:44:38] And the Tataria thing, ancient buildings,
[00:44:41] ancient technology and all this stuff,
[00:44:44] that's all fine and dandy.
[00:44:46] When you make the leap that it was the millennial reign of Jesus,
[00:44:52] and then they say that Satan was loose from the
[00:44:55] bottomless pit in 1776, July 4th, 1776.
[00:45:00] Where'd they get that number from?
[00:45:03] Is that a thousand years from 70 A.D.?
[00:45:06] No.
[00:45:08] Even if you minus the thousand years,
[00:45:11] they say a thousand years was added.
[00:45:12] So even if you minus that,
[00:45:13] you're still not getting a thousand years out of it.
[00:45:19] I marvel at this stuff.
[00:45:21] It is absolute foolishness,
[00:45:24] but people are like losing their minds,
[00:45:28] because somebody, a preacher here in Alabama,
[00:45:31] dares disagree with them and prove where it's false,
[00:45:36] from church history and everything.
[00:45:38] What's funny is I bring up church history like Irenaeus,
[00:45:40] and they go, oh, he's bringing up Irenaeus.
[00:45:42] He can't trust history.
[00:45:43] But then they give you a picture of some building
[00:45:45] that they don't know if A.I. made that picture or not.
[00:45:49] No, this is from 1900, and I'm sitting there going,
[00:45:54] how do you know?
[00:45:55] You're giving me history,
[00:45:57] but you won't listen to the history I'm giving you.
[00:46:00] But they're like, I can't trust that history.
[00:46:05] We've been lied to about our history.
[00:46:08] But I can tell you this much.
[00:46:14] I will trust proven Christian history
[00:46:18] of people who gave their lives,
[00:46:20] or were martyrs, before I'm going to believe.
[00:46:24] The whole Preterist thing is built on Josephus,
[00:46:28] a Jewish historian, and Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman.
[00:46:32] And I'm like, okay, they were historians,
[00:46:35] but do we take these secular, unsaved historians
[00:46:39] above born-again Christians who were fighting to defend the faith,
[00:46:42] like Irenaeus and Polycarp?
[00:46:44] We're going to take what they,
[00:46:46] oh, that history's okay.
[00:46:48] Josephus and Tacitus, that's okay,
[00:46:50] but not Polycarp and Irenaeus.
[00:46:53] That's how ridiculous this is.
[00:46:58] Show me a picture of a building.
[00:47:00] Oh, because it had antennas on it, it had ancient technology.
[00:47:03] How do you know?
[00:47:05] You don't know that.
[00:47:06] Maybe it did, maybe it didn't.
[00:47:08] I mean, they show all these pictures of these buildings,
[00:47:12] and it's like, ooh, see?
[00:47:14] The architecture doesn't fit the timeline.
[00:47:16] Oh, oh, God.
[00:47:18] None of that.
[00:47:21] None of that really matters.
[00:47:23] A hill of beans.
[00:47:24] Let me tell you what I find missing.
[00:47:28] I went through, I can't tell you,
[00:47:30] I spent time going through
[00:47:32] Preterist pages on Facebook.
[00:47:35] I started, I went through Tataria,
[00:47:37] Millennial reign, short season,
[00:47:39] I went through their pages for months on end,
[00:47:43] post after post after post.
[00:47:45] You know what I found missing?
[00:47:47] Not one time in all of my searching,
[00:47:49] in all of those areas,
[00:47:50] did I find them ever talking about how to be born again,
[00:47:54] how to find Jesus as your Lord and Savior,
[00:47:58] what it means to be born again,
[00:48:00] what it means to repent of sin and be saved.
[00:48:02] How are you saved from your sin?
[00:48:04] You know what?
[00:48:05] They leave Jesus out of the equation,
[00:48:08] because what's really,
[00:48:10] they're just excited about the newest narrative,
[00:48:15] the newest little adventure into weird land.
[00:48:25] And y'all know, some people, and it's funny,
[00:48:27] some people try to say,
[00:48:28] oh Pastor Dean, why are you so harsh about it?
[00:48:31] You know, we just loved you because you saw the truth
[00:48:34] and preached the truth about flat earth,
[00:48:36] biblical cosmology.
[00:48:37] I said, yeah, that's in the Bible.
[00:48:39] This whole Tataria thing and the Jesus Christ already came,
[00:48:45] the Second Coming already happened,
[00:48:47] and the Millennial reign already happened,
[00:48:49] that's not Bible.
[00:48:50] So guess what?
[00:48:51] I'm going to stand for what's Bible.
[00:48:53] I'm not going to stand for what's not Bible,
[00:48:55] and I don't care who you are
[00:48:56] and whether you like it or you don't like it.
[00:48:58] And see, the problem is, what they're just not used to
[00:49:05] is they're just not used to a pastor
[00:49:07] to look them in the eye and say,
[00:49:08] if you're teaching this, you're a false teacher.
[00:49:11] What you're teaching is false.
[00:49:12] It's not biblical,
[00:49:13] because most pastors don't even know,
[00:49:15] they wouldn't know enough scripture to tell you.
[00:49:17] And that's what's sad.
[00:49:19] It used to be different 30 years ago, 40 years ago.
[00:49:22] Pastors wouldn't tolerate false doctrine.
[00:49:26] Now they don't even know enough Bible
[00:49:27] to correct false doctrine.
[00:49:30] And it's sad to me because it's a big part
[00:49:34] of the job description of being a shepherd,
[00:49:37] is to guard against the wolves,
[00:49:39] and the wolves come with false teaching
[00:49:41] to drag the sheep away from Jesus primarily.
[00:49:47] So you mark and avoid these people.
[00:49:49] You don't hang out with them.
[00:49:51] You don't listen to them.
[00:49:52] Once you figure out what they're teaching is false,
[00:49:55] you are to mark them and avoid them.
[00:49:59] And you're not to let them use your social media
[00:50:04] to promote their error.
[00:50:06] Not supposed to happen.
[00:50:09] I remember the reason, when I was 19 years old
[00:50:13] and the Lord came to me, you know,
[00:50:15] I had gotten saved,
[00:50:17] had a true born again experience right down here,
[00:50:20] a little Northside Baptist Church
[00:50:22] when I was 11 years old, 11, 12, that time period.
[00:50:26] And I was truly born again,
[00:50:30] but I didn't learn anything about repentance
[00:50:32] or what it meant to live for Jesus.
[00:50:34] You know, it's just, you know,
[00:50:36] I don't know what they knew,
[00:50:37] whether the pastor knew I saved or not
[00:50:39] because an evangelist had come in,
[00:50:41] the pastor was not anointed,
[00:50:42] but the evangelist that came in was.
[00:50:44] But I was really born again.
[00:50:47] But, you know, I got away from God.
[00:50:49] I got into, you know, as my parents divorced
[00:50:53] and we quit going to church
[00:50:54] and I didn't learn what it meant
[00:50:55] to be a disciple of Jesus,
[00:50:57] I started getting into just like all teenagers do
[00:51:00] because I started hanging out with the wrong people.
[00:51:02] And what was I start doing?
[00:51:03] I start drinking, then I start smoking dope,
[00:51:05] then I start doing all kinds of other drugs,
[00:51:07] then I start getting into sexual immorality.
[00:51:09] And before long, man,
[00:51:15] by the time I get to my first year in college,
[00:51:17] I'm drinking and partying and getting high
[00:51:20] and doing drugs almost every day of the week.
[00:51:25] So at 19, God begins to convict me of my sin.
[00:51:33] And you know what He did?
[00:51:34] You know, I had the modeling contract.
[00:51:35] I just, I was supposed to be in Die Hard 1.
[00:51:38] I just done the screen test for all my soap operas.
[00:51:41] The screen test got viewed
[00:51:43] by the people casting for the Die Hard.
[00:51:46] And I was going to be probably, I think,
[00:51:49] one of the terrorists in the first Die Hard movie.
[00:51:52] That was the plan.
[00:51:56] And I was already getting, think about this,
[00:51:58] in 1986 I was getting $200 an hour for modeling
[00:52:02] with the agency I was with.
[00:52:04] $200 an hour in 1986.
[00:52:08] $200 an hour is good money now.
[00:52:11] And they were like, you're going to Hollywood.
[00:52:14] People were already asking for my autograph on my head shop.
[00:52:18] I was already signing autographs.
[00:52:20] But the Lord came to me because I said,
[00:52:24] I'm going to take summer break
[00:52:27] because I was drinking too much, partying too much.
[00:52:29] I said, if I'm going to do this movie career,
[00:52:32] if I'm going to be in Hollywood in the fall,
[00:52:34] I've got to get my life in order
[00:52:36] and I've got to get away from these fraternities.
[00:52:38] I was living in the Sigma Chi fraternity house.
[00:52:40] Not a good place to live.
[00:52:44] I was like, I've got to get away from here.
[00:52:46] I've got to quit drinking as much as I'm drinking
[00:52:49] and stop some of the drugs.
[00:52:50] I just need to chill.
[00:52:52] So I'm like, I'm going to get away for the summer.
[00:52:54] But God had other plans.
[00:52:56] Because when we were making the homecoming float
[00:52:58] on our fraternity house,
[00:53:00] I remember I had not prayed in years.
[00:53:02] I hadn't even thought about praying.
[00:53:05] But I was so, I was depressed.
[00:53:08] I just kept feeling this darkness settling in on me.
[00:53:11] And I just lifted up my head and I said,
[00:53:12] Lord, I know you have a plan for my life.
[00:53:14] I wish you'd get on with it.
[00:53:16] I didn't even realize,
[00:53:19] I don't even know why I said those words.
[00:53:21] Maybe it was just because I had been born again
[00:53:23] and the Holy Spirit in me was just causing me to pray
[00:53:28] what I needed to pray.
[00:53:28] Let me tell you,
[00:53:32] I went out, everything fell apart
[00:53:34] to the point I had to leave.
[00:53:37] I went out to Oklahoma,
[00:53:38] ended up in Arkansas for the summer,
[00:53:40] and God put me right in the right place
[00:53:42] with a guy that started telling me about Jesus.
[00:53:44] But he didn't just tell me about Jesus.
[00:53:46] He told me no drunkard will inherit the kingdom of God.
[00:53:50] He gave me Galatians 5.
[00:53:52] And I remember, this guy,
[00:53:54] you know, I was a fighter back in those days.
[00:53:57] I mean, I would knock your teeth out,
[00:53:59] not even think twice about it.
[00:54:01] All right?
[00:54:03] And this guy was six foot, I'm six foot,
[00:54:05] at times six foot one, I'm six foot now.
[00:54:08] But I was six foot one, I was in good shape,
[00:54:10] benching 300 pounds, martial arts, the whole nine yards.
[00:54:13] And this guy starts telling me,
[00:54:14] I'm going to tell you, this anger rose up in me.
[00:54:16] I'm like, I'm going to knock this
[00:54:18] 250 pounds, six foot four dude right out, right now.
[00:54:22] And I finally just told him, I said,
[00:54:25] you just need to stop talking to me right now.
[00:54:27] We worked together.
[00:54:28] He was my boss, actually.
[00:54:31] But the Holy Spirit, it was like an arrow stuck in me.
[00:54:34] No drunkard will inherit the kingdom of God.
[00:54:38] And the Holy Spirit used that.
[00:54:40] And over the next few weeks,
[00:54:44] he didn't gently correct me.
[00:54:50] This is the first time I remember the Lord spoke to me.
[00:54:52] I had a vision.
[00:54:53] He showed me a road going to hell
[00:54:56] and a road going to heaven.
[00:54:58] And he told me, he said, son,
[00:55:01] he said, you can have everything the world has to offer
[00:55:05] and you can go to hell
[00:55:07] or you can surrender your life to me and live forever.
[00:55:11] Now, that was the Holy Spirit,
[00:55:13] the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to me
[00:55:16] as a backslidden prodigal who was living in the pig pen.
[00:55:22] And he was telling me, you got to choose.
[00:55:25] You're going to get out of the pig pen or not.
[00:55:29] And I made a choice right then.
[00:55:31] I said, Lord, either I'm going with you
[00:55:33] or I'm not going at all.
[00:55:35] I will not be a hypocrite.
[00:55:37] Now, that's when I was 19 years old.
[00:55:39] But you want to know why I started studying the Bible
[00:55:42] like I started studying it,
[00:55:44] because I realized how deceived I had been
[00:55:50] all those years in high school, that first year in college,
[00:55:53] how I had been completely deceived and blinded by Satan.
[00:55:57] And I started studying the Bible from cover to cover
[00:56:00] using my Hebrew and Greek lexicons,
[00:56:03] looking up every single word, just going through it.
[00:56:06] It got me a Webster's dictionary.
[00:56:08] I mean, I was studying the Bible.
[00:56:11] I found some good preachers like David Wilkerson
[00:56:13] and Leonard Ravenhill and Keith Green
[00:56:15] that I knew were men of God.
[00:56:17] And I would listen to their sermons.
[00:56:19] I would listen to their music.
[00:56:21] I would read their newsletters and their messages.
[00:56:25] I did everything I could to establish myself in the truth.
[00:56:29] And the reason for that was,
[00:56:32] this is before I knew I was going to be called,
[00:56:34] I was called to the ministry.
[00:56:36] I did that because I said, if I'm going to help anybody,
[00:56:39] I must first be ready to give an answer.
[00:56:44] I must be ready, and I don't want to give them my opinions
[00:56:47] or the doctrines of men or the traditions of men.
[00:56:51] I want to give people the truth, the rightly divided,
[00:56:55] sound doctrine, truth of the Word of God.
[00:56:59] Because I want them to be free and to find Jesus like I have.
[00:57:03] I want them to come to repentance
[00:57:05] and to understand that you can live in sin as a Christian
[00:57:08] and end up in hell.
[00:57:12] I want them to be saved.
[00:57:14] So you're going to ask yourself, what is your motivation?
[00:57:18] What is your purpose? Do you want people to be saved?
[00:57:20] Do you want to lead people to Jesus Christ?
[00:57:23] Do you want to see them repent and really walk with the Lord?
[00:57:26] Well, if you do, then you have to do it first
[00:57:30] and you have to get yourself established in the Scriptures,
[00:57:34] solid, solid, sound doctrine,
[00:57:38] or you will not be able to help anybody.
[00:57:46] I can't stress this enough.
[00:57:49] The thing I was terrified about in those days, those early days,
[00:57:55] was that I would end up leading anybody astray
[00:57:58] by teaching something that was wrong.
[00:58:00] So I studied, studied, studied, studied, studied, studied, studied, studied.
[00:58:17] And I still study, study, study, study, study.
[00:58:21] Because I don't know everything.
[00:58:26] I still got questions. I'm still trying to learn.
[00:58:32] But why? So I can look smart,
[00:58:39] so I can look like I'm knowledgeable of the Bible.
[00:58:42] Do you think that's why I study?
[00:58:44] No, because I want people to make it to heaven.
[00:58:47] That's it. That's it. That's why I do this.
[00:58:54] I don't do this for any other reason.
[00:58:57] I could retire right now. I could just go.
[00:58:59] I'm done. Go fishing.
[00:59:01] I haven't been fishing and hunting in years because I don't have time.
[00:59:05] I don't play golf anymore.
[00:59:08] But I want people to go to heaven.
[00:59:16] And I know for that to happen,
[00:59:19] I've got to give them the truth of God's Word.
[00:59:23] Sound doctrine, rightly divided, Holy Spirit-led truth.
[00:59:29] And sometimes that Holy Spirit-led truth is rebuke.
[00:59:36] It is correction.
[00:59:40] It is telling them exactly where they are.
[00:59:45] So the best thing that my boss in Arkansas did,
[00:59:49] the best thing he did for me is look at me and say,
[00:59:52] he knew I was a partier. I was a drinker.
[00:59:55] I loved to get drunk and party.
[00:59:59] And so I didn't need to hear,
[01:00:01] Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
[01:00:04] That wouldn't have worked.
[01:00:08] Even though that's true, that's not the truth I needed.
[01:00:11] I needed somebody to look me in the face and say,
[01:00:14] a drunkard will not go to heaven.
[01:00:16] You have to repent of this. You have to stop this.
[01:00:18] You have to get out of the pig pen and go back to the father.
[01:00:21] You can't stay in the pig pen and call yourself a Christian.
[01:00:25] And that's when I got up and said, okay, I'm leaving the pig pen.
[01:00:31] It was that truth, that arrow of the Lord that stuck in me and I couldn't pull out.
[01:00:35] And then I began to find the other stuff.
[01:00:39] You can't be a fornicator.
[01:00:40] You know what a fornicator is?
[01:00:42] Someone involved in sexual sin when they're not married.
[01:00:47] Because if you're married and you're in sexual sin, that's adultery.
[01:00:54] But fornication pretty much covers everything.
[01:00:56] Pornia is the word in Greek.
[01:00:59] And it covers all sexual immorality.
[01:01:03] And then I found out about that, that no fornicator will inherit the kingdom of God.
[01:01:10] No adulterer, no murderer.
[01:01:13] That means abortion.
[01:01:16] No sorcerer, pharmakea, drug user.
[01:01:23] No witch, no warlock.
[01:01:34] If you hate your brother, your sister,
[01:01:38] you're offended to the point you have unforgiveness toward someone.
[01:01:43] Bible says if you have unforgiveness in your heart toward someone,
[01:01:47] you're delivered to the tormentors.
[01:01:49] And if you don't forgive when Judgment Day happens,
[01:01:53] it says all of the sin you were forgiven is going to be required
[01:01:57] when it comes back upon you.
[01:01:59] Your entire debt will come back upon you if you don't forgive others.
[01:02:05] This is why the Lord says beware of offense.
[01:02:07] Because what offense leads to is unforgiveness.
[01:02:11] Offense first will cause division.
[01:02:13] And then it will cause unforgiveness.
[01:02:17] And if unforgiveness takes root,
[01:02:20] unforgiveness becomes what's called a root of bitterness.
[01:02:23] It says a root of bitterness in Hebrews 12 says it will defile many.
[01:02:29] That's why we've got Facebook groups out there.
[01:02:33] They're offended with some pastor.
[01:02:36] And then they got their own little offended group.
[01:02:39] I know because there's one against me too.
[01:02:42] That's been there since 2016, I think.
[01:02:46] I thought they ought to start their own little denomination.
[01:02:51] We hate Dean Church.
[01:02:58] I mean, I could cure cancer and they'd find out
[01:03:00] somehow to spin that that I was evil.
[01:03:03] But let's keep reading this.
[01:03:08] I want to show you this right here.
[01:03:10] Back at Matthew 15.
[01:03:13] Go down to verse 21.
[01:03:19] I like it when it says then.
[01:03:22] So right after Jesus rebukes the Pharisees
[01:03:24] and tells them and the disciples say,
[01:03:26] you know they were offended.
[01:03:29] Why were they offended at Jesus?
[01:03:30] Because he told them the truth.
[01:03:33] But then Jesus went this and departed in the coast of Tyre and Sidon
[01:03:36] and behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast
[01:03:38] and cried unto him saying,
[01:03:40] have mercy on me, O Lord, our son of David.
[01:03:42] My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil.
[01:03:45] But he answered her not a word.
[01:03:48] Whoa, whoa, wait, this sweet lady.
[01:03:52] Jesus, my daughter is grievously vexed with the devil.
[01:03:55] Please help us.
[01:03:58] Jesus doesn't even acknowledge her.
[01:04:01] He just keeps walking.
[01:04:02] How many of you would be offended with me
[01:04:08] if I did that to you?
[01:04:12] Some of you are offended right now
[01:04:13] because we hadn't sat down and done your deliverance yet.
[01:04:15] Some of you don't know there may be a reason why.
[01:04:22] But that's another issue.
[01:04:28] But think about that.
[01:04:29] Jesus just keeps walking.
[01:04:32] Then I love this woman though.
[01:04:36] His disciples came beside him,
[01:04:38] send her away for she cryeth after us.
[01:04:42] But he answered and said,
[01:04:43] I am not sent but into the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
[01:04:46] Now, this is a reason because it was deliverance.
[01:04:49] She was a Canaanite.
[01:04:50] She was outside the blood covenant of God.
[01:04:52] Therefore, casting demons out of her daughter
[01:04:55] would have been doing her more harm than good
[01:04:58] because she wouldn't have had the ability to keep them out.
[01:05:00] That's just why you don't cast demons out of unsaved people.
[01:05:03] But that's another deliverance issue.
[01:05:07] See, the church world has taught you
[01:05:08] that you only cast demons out of unsaved people,
[01:05:10] and yet they never do.
[01:05:12] But really, unsaved people are not in a position to stay free.
[01:05:18] So Jesus gives another negative and says,
[01:05:23] I'm not sent.
[01:05:24] So she gets ignored.
[01:05:26] Then she gets a word that he's only sent to Israel
[01:05:31] and I'm not Israel.
[01:05:32] Then came she and worshiped him.
[01:05:36] This is when she begins to acknowledge you are God.
[01:05:41] She was by worshiping him,
[01:05:44] she was acknowledging, I know you're God.
[01:05:46] I know you're the Messiah.
[01:05:51] She worships him, saying, Lord, help me.
[01:05:57] All right, now you think, okay,
[01:06:00] at this point, he's going to do it, right?
[01:06:02] No.
[01:06:04] But he answered and said,
[01:06:07] it is not meat or it is not right to take the children's bread
[01:06:10] and to cast it to dogs.
[01:06:13] Now, this is the point where I know this was a Jewish term
[01:06:18] for those who were Gentiles, but this is not nice.
[01:06:23] This is not a nice, this is derogatory term
[01:06:25] for those outside of the covenant, right?
[01:06:29] Kind of like Christians, we call people heathen, pagan.
[01:06:32] Now, it may be true, but it's not really nice to say, right?
[01:06:36] They don't really, a lot of people like that.
[01:06:39] A lot of people don't even use the term sinner
[01:06:42] or the lost person or, you know,
[01:06:44] people just, again, getting offended left and right.
[01:06:46] Here's what's beautiful about this woman.
[01:06:48] And this is why she got the anointing
[01:06:50] and the power of God and the miracle of God,
[01:06:52] why her daughter got healed and delivered.
[01:06:54] Because she said, truth, Lord,
[01:06:59] yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
[01:07:04] And then Jesus answered and said unto her,
[01:07:07] O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee, even as thou wilt,
[01:07:11] and her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
[01:07:15] She got the power of God, the miracle, the answer,
[01:07:20] because she refused to get offended with Jesus,
[01:07:25] though he gave her several opportunities.
[01:07:28] You remember naming the Syrian?
[01:07:34] He got offended, too.
[01:07:36] Little girl tells him there's a prophet in Israel
[01:07:39] that'll kill you, cleanse you of your leprosy.
[01:07:42] And I want to tell you right now, leprosy is bad.
[01:07:45] It's very bad.
[01:07:47] Parts begin to rot and fall off.
[01:07:49] Fingers, hands.
[01:07:51] It's bad.
[01:07:53] It stinks.
[01:07:55] It's bad.
[01:07:57] I would not want anyone to have leprosy.
[01:08:00] So naming is like there's somebody that can heal me
[01:08:07] of this horrible, terrible disease
[01:08:09] that's going to eventually eat me away until I die.
[01:08:12] Painful.
[01:08:16] It was just horrible.
[01:08:19] And so he goes to see Elisha the prophet,
[01:08:22] and he gets there, and he's of an important general
[01:08:26] with a whole entourage.
[01:08:28] And he gets there,
[01:08:32] and Elisha doesn't even come out to meet him.
[01:08:36] Doesn't even step out of the house and say,
[01:08:38] hey, hey, important general of Syria.
[01:08:43] Glad you made the trip.
[01:08:45] Come in and get you a glass of water.
[01:08:47] Nope.
[01:08:48] Go dip seven times, sends a servant out.
[01:08:50] Tell him go dip seven times in the River Jordan.
[01:08:53] It says naming was furious.
[01:08:58] Why?
[01:09:00] Because he had an overestimation
[01:09:06] of himself.
[01:09:08] You see, in God's economy,
[01:09:11] he was nothing like everybody else.
[01:09:14] In his own mind, he was something special.
[01:09:17] And he said, I thought for sure the man of God
[01:09:19] would come out and lay his hands on the leper
[01:09:22] and heal the leper.
[01:09:24] He had in his mind how it should go.
[01:09:27] He had a preconceived idea.
[01:09:31] Yeah, he'll roll out the red carpet for me
[01:09:33] and have a whole ceremony and anoint me with oil,
[01:09:36] and I'll be healed, and, you know,
[01:09:39] the paparazzi will be there and get the pictures,
[01:09:42] all the selfies that we need.
[01:09:44] Go dip in the River Jordan.
[01:09:48] He's like, we got better rivers in Syria
[01:09:50] than that nasty Jordan River, right?
[01:09:52] He was just being arrogant.
[01:09:56] And his own servants convinced him,
[01:09:58] if the prophet would have told you
[01:10:00] to do something difficult, wouldn't you have done it?
[01:10:03] Don't you really want to be healed?
[01:10:05] Don't you want the power of God to be manifested in your life?
[01:10:08] Don't you want to be free from this?
[01:10:10] Just go do it.
[01:10:13] Humble yourself, stop being offended,
[01:10:17] and do what you need to do.
[01:10:24] Guess what?
[01:10:25] He finally humbled himself
[01:10:26] and went and dipped seven times in the River Jordan,
[01:10:29] and he was completely cleansed.
[01:10:32] And to be cleansed of leprosy means
[01:10:34] whatever was rotting and damaged
[01:10:36] and even had fallen off gets put back.
[01:10:39] That's why Jesus talked about not just healing lepers
[01:10:42] but making them whole,
[01:10:44] because ears would fall off,
[01:10:46] noses would fall off,
[01:10:47] fingers and toes would fall off.
[01:10:55] Refuse to be offended.
[01:10:59] How are we going to have the anointing in here?
[01:11:01] Let me show you something.
[01:11:02] Psalm 133.
[01:11:05] And I'm not going to Psalm 133
[01:11:16] because I'm a Freemason.
[01:11:23] I tell you what, I got called everything, y'all.
[01:11:25] I'm a shill.
[01:11:28] Because I don't agree with the Tartaria millennial reign.
[01:11:35] I'm the devil now.
[01:11:37] Child of the devil.
[01:11:38] Actually, the video is about me.
[01:11:40] One of them is called Child of the Devil.
[01:11:42] I kid you not.
[01:11:51] I can tell you this much.
[01:11:53] They're upset at me about not agreeing with that.
[01:11:55] What do they think they're doing
[01:11:57] slandering a pastor like that,
[01:11:59] slandering another brother who walks with Jesus?
[01:12:03] They think that that's just going to get off
[01:12:04] scot-free with that one?
[01:12:06] Yeah, good luck.
[01:12:07] Psalm 133 verse, we'll just read,
[01:12:11] it's three verses.
[01:12:13] Behold how good and pleasant it is
[01:12:15] for brethren to dwell together in unity.
[01:12:18] It is like the precious ointment upon the head
[01:12:20] that ran down of the beard, even Aaron's beard,
[01:12:23] and went down to the skirts of his garments.
[01:12:25] As the dew of Herman and as the dew
[01:12:27] that descended upon the mountains of Zion,
[01:12:29] for there the Lord commanded the blessing,
[01:12:32] even life, forevermore.
[01:12:34] Brother and dwelling together in unity.
[01:12:37] The only way that that is possible
[01:12:41] is that brothers and sisters
[01:12:44] have to refuse to get offended,
[01:12:47] and if they do, they don't let the offense
[01:12:51] fester until it's a putrefying wound.
[01:12:57] Because what are we supposed to do?
[01:12:59] If you're offended with someone,
[01:13:01] you are told by the Scriptures
[01:13:03] you are supposed to go to them
[01:13:05] and talk to them about it.
[01:13:07] This is another reason why there is so much division
[01:13:11] and strife and a lack of the anointing
[01:13:13] of the Holy Spirit in churches
[01:13:16] is because people are offended
[01:13:18] all over the place with each other
[01:13:21] and sometimes it's legitimate,
[01:13:22] sometimes it's just stupid,
[01:13:24] sometimes it's over something minor,
[01:13:26] and instead of going to that person,
[01:13:32] they let it fester until,
[01:13:34] and if you don't obey the Scripture
[01:13:36] and go talk to that person about
[01:13:38] why you're offended and what's going on,
[01:13:40] if you don't, then it's going to get worse.
[01:13:44] I promise you it's going to get worse.
[01:13:47] I shared this on I think the Wednesday night,
[01:13:50] a couple of Wednesday nights ago,
[01:13:52] that we had a brother, he's not here anymore,
[01:13:55] he didn't leave offended,
[01:13:57] he just moved back to Tennessee.
[01:14:00] But my wife was just,
[01:14:03] we were downstairs during,
[01:14:05] she was just joking,
[01:14:06] we have a joke,
[01:14:07] I won't even say what it was,
[01:14:09] but we were just joking,
[01:14:10] she was joking about something.
[01:14:11] But I guess he hadn't been here enough,
[01:14:13] been around us enough,
[01:14:14] to know the joke that everybody,
[01:14:15] we thought everybody knew about, right?
[01:14:17] Or understood, because we talk about it.
[01:14:19] I've talked about it from the pulpit sometimes, right?
[01:14:22] Anyway, long story short,
[01:14:24] he was all upset about that.
[01:14:28] He thought she was actually accusing him of something
[01:14:31] that he didn't do,
[01:14:32] and she just was joking,
[01:14:33] kind of in general,
[01:14:34] about something that we joke about,
[01:14:36] but he didn't know that.
[01:14:38] And what he said,
[01:14:39] he basically just started getting worse and worse
[01:14:41] and worse.
[01:14:42] And finally, he just said,
[01:14:43] you know what,
[01:14:44] I need to go talk to them.
[01:14:47] And he finally contacted and said,
[01:14:48] can I talk to y'all,
[01:14:49] something's bothering me.
[01:14:52] Like, sure.
[01:14:54] Once he got it out,
[01:14:55] and we were like, what?
[01:14:57] And we were able to tell him,
[01:14:58] oh no,
[01:15:00] she wasn't saying that about you,
[01:15:01] it wasn't about you,
[01:15:02] it was just a joke we tell,
[01:15:04] we thought you knew about it, right?
[01:15:08] So it was a misunderstanding.
[01:15:10] But had he not done that,
[01:15:14] he could still this day,
[01:15:15] be offended with us, right?
[01:15:20] So this is why it's so important.
[01:15:23] If someone's hurt you,
[01:15:24] or you feel wrong by someone,
[01:15:25] or there's some type of issue
[01:15:27] that's going on and you feel offended,
[01:15:30] go tell them.
[01:15:33] Is that so hard?
[01:15:39] I remember when Cheetra first started coming here.
[01:15:46] She would just get mad at me for no reason.
[01:15:48] Y'all think,
[01:15:51] Cheetra doesn't get mad at anybody.
[01:15:54] But you know what it was,
[01:15:56] it was before her deliverance.
[01:15:58] And the demons in her,
[01:16:00] she was getting closer to going through her deliverance,
[01:16:02] and they'd stay riled up,
[01:16:02] and she said,
[01:16:04] I would just get mad at you,
[01:16:04] and I didn't even know why.
[01:16:06] That's another reason I have a lot of haters,
[01:16:11] because see,
[01:16:12] I've been casting demons out of people
[01:16:14] for 30, going on 37 years now.
[01:16:16] And we have a deliverance ministry in this church.
[01:16:20] So the devil knows,
[01:16:22] if you hang out around here too long,
[01:16:25] you're going to learn about deliverance,
[01:16:28] and then you're going to need it
[01:16:31] and figure out you need it,
[01:16:32] and we're going to sit down and do it at some point,
[01:16:34] and the demons start getting nervous.
[01:16:37] So what they try to do is build up stuff in your head
[01:16:40] and your heart to try to get you away
[01:16:42] from where you're going to get deliverance.
[01:16:44] Seen it happen so many times, right?
[01:16:47] Like some people,
[01:16:48] right before we had their deliverance scheduled,
[01:16:50] poof, out the door.
[01:16:52] Got mad about something stupid,
[01:16:53] poof, boom, gone.
[01:16:56] They're like,
[01:16:59] well, they were this close.
[01:17:01] You can't let yourself get offended.
[01:17:08] What's the answer to it?
[01:17:12] What's the answer to it?
[01:17:14] Go talk to that person.
[01:17:18] Say, well, Pastor Dean, you're scary.
[01:17:21] I don't want to talk to you about the way you offended me.
[01:17:24] I understand.
[01:17:28] That's okay, because you know what?
[01:17:30] It's that, you know,
[01:17:32] when you're speeding down the road
[01:17:33] and the speed limit's 35 and you're going 60
[01:17:36] and you see a cop,
[01:17:37] that first little startle you have,
[01:17:40] that's the respect of authority.
[01:17:42] That's the realization.
[01:17:43] Oh, so I understand.
[01:17:45] I have authority in the kingdom of God.
[01:17:47] I understand that it's,
[01:17:49] sometimes it might be scary to talk to me,
[01:17:51] but it's better that you do it if you,
[01:17:55] because it may be something that's just a misunderstanding.
[01:17:59] It may be something I need to clarify.
[01:18:01] Maybe I didn't make it clear as I need to make it.
[01:18:03] Sometimes I've had to go,
[01:18:05] wow, I should explain more about that.
[01:18:07] I was too vague or short on something,
[01:18:11] and so people didn't know what I was talking about.
[01:18:14] Husbands and wives.
[01:18:18] Boy, y'all got to do this frequently.
[01:18:23] Folks you live with, right?
[01:18:28] They're going to offend you all the time.
[01:18:33] I say love is blind,
[01:18:35] marriage is an eye-opener.
[01:18:41] So I tell people, I'm saying,
[01:18:42] we want to move here.
[01:18:43] I'm like, do you?
[01:18:44] Because, see, staying out there and watching,
[01:18:47] that's like the dating period.
[01:18:49] Moving here and actually becoming part of the family,
[01:18:55] that's a whole other situation.
[01:18:58] And you might actually get rebuked
[01:19:00] or corrected about something,
[01:19:02] because we get to see your life for a while.
[01:19:04] Or you hang out long enough
[01:19:06] till you get your feelings heard about something.
[01:19:08] So that's why I tell people,
[01:19:09] if you're going to come here,
[01:19:10] I'm all fine if God leads you here to this church
[01:19:12] wherever you may be from.
[01:19:14] Just know it's the Lord
[01:19:17] and know that it's going to have its own difficulties.
[01:19:22] It's not all hunky-dory,
[01:19:24] even when you have a church that loves the Lord,
[01:19:27] loves the Lord, wants Jesus,
[01:19:29] loves the Bible, loves the truth,
[01:19:31] trying to preach the truth,
[01:19:32] trying to stay balanced and all that stuff,
[01:19:34] and have good fellowship.
[01:19:36] There's still going to be real life,
[01:19:40] just like when you got married.
[01:19:44] You thought they were wonderful,
[01:19:46] until you lay them beside that snoring.
[01:19:48] No.
[01:19:57] Yet you do snore sometimes.
[01:20:05] I never do.
[01:20:07] I've never heard it once.
[01:20:17] And usually there's a neat freak
[01:20:19] and then there's a sloppy one, right?
[01:20:22] Messy one.
[01:20:23] And it seems like we always marry the opposite, right?
[01:20:26] But you got to forgive one another, right?
[01:20:35] See, she's the organized one.
[01:20:36] I am not organized.
[01:20:38] God put her in my life because I needed help with that.
[01:20:41] But sometimes her organization frustrates me
[01:20:45] because, you know, they say genius is desk or messy.
[01:20:50] They know everything where it is.
[01:20:52] And you clean it up and can't find anything anymore, right?
[01:20:55] But the unity, brother and I said dwell together,
[01:21:05] what is it like?
[01:21:06] He said it's like the oil poured upon Aaron.
[01:21:10] It's the anointing.
[01:21:11] The oil represented the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
[01:21:14] And if we want the anointing of the Holy Spirit,
[01:21:16] the power of God, we've got to refuse to be.
[01:21:19] Remember, easily offended.
[01:21:22] You know, in 1 Corinthians 13,
[01:21:24] when he talks about love,
[01:21:26] he says one thing about love is it's not easily offended.
[01:21:33] Love covers a multitude of sins.
[01:21:35] Guess what?
[01:21:38] You don't always have to say everything you think.
[01:21:43] Because sometimes what you think is just a bad mood, right?
[01:21:52] Y'all trust me.
[01:21:53] I don't say everything I think.
[01:21:55] No, it seems like you do, Pastor Nate.
[01:21:58] No, I promise you, I hold back.
[01:22:03] And there's a lot of times I need to correct somebody
[01:22:06] about something.
[01:22:07] I wait a long time to do it.
[01:22:09] I pray about it.
[01:22:10] I give people a chance to let the Holy Spirit deal
[01:22:13] with them first before I have to.
[01:22:15] Right?
[01:22:17] Patience.
[01:22:20] But this is so vital.
[01:22:22] The Lord told me beware of offense.
[01:22:24] And here's what's interesting.
[01:22:25] She's not here today.
[01:22:26] But Susan Stiles was here that Wednesday night prayer.
[01:22:32] And this is interesting because I shared that word
[01:22:35] beware of offense.
[01:22:36] And I know it's a word from the Lord.
[01:22:39] And that was a warning to our church.
[01:22:41] Beware of offense.
[01:22:42] It's coming.
[01:22:45] And I shared how, like in 2019, right after Skyfall,
[01:22:48] God moved so powerfully at Skyfall 2019.
[01:22:51] We did our first kind of mass deliverance service.
[01:22:56] But the whole weekend was just powerful.
[01:22:59] It was the Holy Spirit was there so strong.
[01:23:01] And we had been warned ahead of time.
[01:23:04] I think God had showed Sal that there was these massive
[01:23:08] principalities coming to cause division.
[01:23:11] And he saw this before and we prayed against it.
[01:23:14] But let me tell you something.
[01:23:16] Principality level is a different whole different issue.
[01:23:20] And sure enough, following Skyfall 2019,
[01:23:26] some people got offended and left our church.
[01:23:31] And they would have been the ones I would have said
[01:23:33] I would never have said they would have gotten offended
[01:23:36] and left.
[01:23:37] And again, it was over stupid stuff.
[01:23:41] And so I was sharing that story about how, you know,
[01:23:49] don't think it can't be you because it can be.
[01:23:52] Well, I love Pastor Dean Nancy and church.
[01:23:56] I love fire and grace.
[01:23:58] It can be you because offense can come in.
[01:24:04] Well, Susan Stiles, they said she had had a dream
[01:24:07] either the night that night or the night before.
[01:24:10] The night before that what was it?
[01:24:12] The Lord told her.
[01:24:13] Yeah, about offense.
[01:24:17] Here's what's why.
[01:24:18] So it was about a fence, a fence, a fence in this dream.
[01:24:21] And the Lord gave her a specific date.
[01:24:23] And I'm not going to say what date it was
[01:24:25] because I don't want to give away anything.
[01:24:27] What's interesting was that was the date,
[01:24:31] the exact date, one of the families that I would have said
[01:24:34] would have never gotten offended and would have left.
[01:24:38] Got offended and left.
[01:24:39] They left on that date.
[01:24:41] So the Lord was warning.
[01:24:42] So fire and grace church, you listen to me.
[01:24:46] And even those that listen, you know, like I said,
[01:24:48] we've had some get offended with me from last week
[01:24:50] because I'm just too strong sometimes.
[01:24:52] But hear me out.
[01:24:54] Don't let the fence come in because what it will do
[01:25:00] offense will keep you from not only the anointing
[01:25:03] and the power of God and the answer to your prayers,
[01:25:06] but a fence will keep you from it'll keep you
[01:25:09] from finding the will of God and the next step in your life
[01:25:13] because you'll get you'll get stuck in the mud
[01:25:17] in the quicksand of that thing.
[01:25:19] And you're going nowhere until you deal with it.
[01:25:24] It's kind of like getting a flat tire.
[01:25:28] You're you're you're there until you fix it.
[01:25:35] And so I know in fact to tell you the truth
[01:25:40] when I heard the Holy Spirit say that I was like,
[01:25:42] oh, God, not that because let me let me tell you
[01:25:48] when a fence is allowed to stay and then it becomes division
[01:25:56] and a root of bitterness.
[01:25:59] Then what happens is friendships are destroyed.
[01:26:04] Relationships are destroyed.
[01:26:06] And there's a lot of pain that goes along with that.
[01:26:10] This is why divorce has happened.
[01:26:15] You know what he say divorce has happened.
[01:26:18] He says the divorce has always happened
[01:26:20] because he talks about Jesus said
[01:26:23] because of the hardness of your hearts.
[01:26:25] Well, why what's hardness?
[01:26:26] What is what is the hardness doing there?
[01:26:29] Somebody's gotten hurt in that relationship
[01:26:33] and they refuse to forgive.
[01:26:35] And so what happens is when you get offended
[01:26:39] and you refuse to forgive,
[01:26:41] then your heart is going to get more and more calloused
[01:26:44] and hardened to the point you can't even
[01:26:47] don't even want to be around that person anymore.
[01:26:49] And for marriage, that means separation or divorce.
[01:26:53] And you know, let me say this me
[01:26:57] and sometimes women need to talk to us
[01:27:00] and we don't want to talk.
[01:27:02] Y'all got twenty five thousand words a day.
[01:27:06] We got twelve.
[01:27:07] We just don't want to do it sometimes.
[01:27:09] But man, you're supposed to sacrifice and deny yourself
[01:27:15] and live with your wife according to knowledge,
[01:27:18] meaning you know she needs to talk.
[01:27:21] So you need to listen.
[01:27:24] I have a little thing with Nancy every now and then.
[01:27:26] I just finally sit down and say,
[01:27:27] all right, what's going on on the inside?
[01:27:29] Just tell me.
[01:27:30] And that means putting the phone down.
[01:27:33] I'm terrible about it too.
[01:27:35] We got to put the phone in.
[01:27:36] See, man, we can't look at that.
[01:27:37] We can't be distracted.
[01:27:39] I can't hear my wife talking and be looking at the phone.
[01:27:41] I won't hear a word.
[01:27:43] I can shut the world out if I'm reading something
[01:27:47] or watching something.
[01:27:48] It could be World War three going on.
[01:27:51] And I don't hear it.
[01:27:53] I don't see it.
[01:27:54] But you're going to have to communicate
[01:28:02] to deal with offenses in marriage.
[01:28:05] And somebody is going to have to be quick to say,
[01:28:08] you know what?
[01:28:09] When you did something wrong or said something wrong,
[01:28:11] somebody is going to also have to be quick.
[01:28:14] When you finally talk about the offense or the argument
[01:28:16] or the disagreement or whatever it is, the hurt,
[01:28:19] somebody is going to have to say,
[01:28:23] I was wrong.
[01:28:24] Forgive me.
[01:28:29] I can tell you this.
[01:28:30] The people that stay married and stay married for decades
[01:28:33] upon decades have learned how to forgive each other
[01:28:37] and how to deal with their offenses.
[01:28:39] You hear me?
[01:28:43] And guess what?
[01:28:46] Sometimes between a husband and wife,
[01:28:51] it can be a child or another family member
[01:28:54] causing the strife in your life.
[01:28:56] And sometimes, like I've told some of my family,
[01:29:01] you're not going to divide me and my wife,
[01:29:02] so you might as well give it up.
[01:29:04] I mean, I won't even hold back.
[01:29:07] I mean, I had a wicked stepmother
[01:29:11] that tried to divide me and my wife
[01:29:13] on our first Thanksgiving as a married couple.
[01:29:16] And I said, we won't be going back there.
[01:29:19] We went there for Thanksgiving,
[01:29:20] and she caused all kinds of strife and problems.
[01:29:23] And I said, that's it.
[01:29:25] Because you know what?
[01:29:28] My marriage is more important than the wicked stepmother.
[01:29:31] Now, she was evil.
[01:29:34] She might still be, but I don't ever see her anymore.
[01:29:40] Hallelujah.
[01:29:41] But you can't let a child, you can't let a grown child,
[01:29:47] you can't let a grandchild,
[01:29:49] you can't let anybody sow that division
[01:29:54] and cause you two to get offended with each other.
[01:29:56] Because like I say, it's her side of the family.
[01:29:58] You're like, yeah, they're a bunch of heathens.
[01:30:01] And then it ended up coming to strife between the two of you.
[01:30:04] You got to be, you married couples, you got to be a teen.
[01:30:08] You leave father and mother,
[01:30:12] cleave to your wife, to your husband,
[01:30:14] meaning not even your parents.
[01:30:16] You allow them to divide you.
[01:30:18] Nobody can divide you.
[01:30:20] See, another word, another phrase,
[01:30:25] another thing for offense is a stumbling block.
[01:30:28] Something that calls you to stumble and fall into sin.
[01:30:31] You say, I told one of our grown children one time
[01:30:35] who was starting to cause strife in my home.
[01:30:40] I said, you are not going to cause a problem
[01:30:43] between me and my wife.
[01:30:45] She's going to stay and you're going to leave.
[01:30:52] Why?
[01:30:54] Because I got to guard that relationship.
[01:30:57] You got to guard your relationships
[01:30:59] in your church family as well.
[01:31:02] Same way.
[01:31:03] If there's offense, go to them.
[01:31:07] Deal with it.
[01:31:10] What I'm praying and hoping for
[01:31:14] that this warning to a fire and grace church
[01:31:17] will head off Satan's planned attack in that area.
[01:31:28] I want to say something too.
[01:31:29] I feel like it's going to help a marriage or two as well.
[01:31:37] Beware of offense.
[01:31:40] Deal with it.
[01:31:41] And part of that dealing with it
[01:31:43] is being able to handle correction
[01:31:45] because you know what?
[01:31:47] You got to admit when you're wrong.
[01:31:49] I know for some of us it's hard to say I was wrong.
[01:31:54] It's like poison, right?
[01:31:59] But you got to say it sometimes.
[01:32:00] I was wrong.
[01:32:01] You were right.
[01:32:04] Somebody comes to you and say, you know, you said this
[01:32:06] and it hurt me.
[01:32:07] You know, you got to say, if you did,
[01:32:09] you got to own up to it to say, you know what?
[01:32:11] You're right.
[01:32:12] I shouldn't have said that.
[01:32:13] I'm sorry.
[01:32:15] Do you know just those words right there?
[01:32:17] Just saying, you know what?
[01:32:18] Yeah.
[01:32:19] What I said was wrong and I hurt you and I'm sorry.
[01:32:21] Please forgive me.
[01:32:23] There's that right there.
[01:32:24] The stuff that can heal and do away with.
[01:32:31] The good news is one of those families that left in 2019
[01:32:36] and then left here talking bad about me
[01:32:40] and everything I mean just, whoo.
[01:32:42] Guess what?
[01:32:45] They came back said, you know what?
[01:32:47] I was wrong.
[01:32:48] Forgive me about that.
[01:32:50] And we are back friends again.
[01:32:54] Everything's fine.
[01:32:55] And boy, it was not that way in 2019.
[01:32:59] Beware of offense.
[01:33:05] And it's coming.
[01:33:07] It's going to say past.
[01:33:08] No, it can't be me.
[01:33:09] It won't be me.
[01:33:10] One of you say it.
[01:33:15] It won't be me.
[01:33:16] It could be.
[01:33:17] Matter of fact, the devil even focus in on you.
[01:33:21] You know what blows my mind, though?
[01:33:23] See, the people get offended.
[01:33:26] They get offended with what I preach.
[01:33:30] See, there's some people offended about me
[01:33:32] talking about beware of offense.
[01:33:42] Some people get very offended when I talk
[01:33:44] about just plainly what sin is.
[01:33:46] Pastor Dean, you just too blunt.
[01:33:52] Yep.
[01:33:53] Paul said the trumpet must give a clear sound.
[01:33:58] All right.
[01:34:01] Y'all okay with this?
[01:34:04] There's a lot more we could cover.
[01:34:06] But I'm going to close it right there.
[01:34:08] Beware of offense.
[01:34:12] Let's stand.
[01:34:14] Let's do a song.
[01:34:18] We need to worship a minute.
[01:34:20] Let's do the rest upon us
[01:34:24] because we want the Holy Spirit to rest on us.
[01:34:27] And you know what?
[01:34:30] He wants to.
[01:34:31] But we have to deal with our sin.
[01:34:34] We have to deal with our offenses.
[01:34:37] We have to deal with unforgiveness.
[01:34:39] We have to deal with bitterness.
[01:34:41] We have to deal with what could cause strife or division.
[01:34:45] That's how we keep the Holy Spirit,
[01:34:48] the bond of unity.
[01:34:51] Amen.
[01:34:52] So let's sing this.
[01:34:54] I know.
[01:34:55] I was going to do it twice anyway.
[01:34:56] So let's do this song and then we'll get out of here.
[01:34:59] And if you think of somebody,
[01:35:12] as you worship the Lord here a minute,
[01:35:14] if you think of somebody you are offended with,
[01:35:18] start making plans.
[01:35:20] Go talk to that person.
[01:35:23] Even if you need to do it today.
[01:35:29] Help us recognize if there's offense in our hearts,
[01:41:05] if there's unforgiveness towards someone
[01:41:08] because they've hurt us,
[01:41:11] they've offended us in some way.
[01:41:14] Even if it was legit, Lord,
[01:41:15] even if they did something terrible,
[01:41:18] we have to forgive.
[01:41:19] You want us to forgive people that's hurt us,
[01:41:21] wounded us.
[01:41:22] We've got to deal with these offenses
[01:41:26] or they turn into a root of bitterness
[01:41:28] and many are defiled.
[01:41:30] So we pray, God, you'll help us with that.
[01:41:34] I want to say this.
[01:41:36] I felt while we were worshiping with that song
[01:41:38] that there's some people in here.
[01:41:40] There's some strong unforgiveness
[01:41:45] towards someone that hurt you a long time ago.
[01:41:48] It's bled over.
[01:41:52] It's not just you're offended
[01:41:54] and hurt with that person,
[01:41:58] but you're hurt and offended with God
[01:42:00] because you think, well,
[01:42:02] He allowed it to happen.
[01:42:03] So you're upset and angry at God as well.
[01:42:06] And the Lord says you have to forgive.
[01:42:09] I want to tell you a little story real quick,
[01:42:12] a testimony that happened,
[01:42:14] two testimonies actually, many years ago.
[01:42:17] I was in Montgomery, Alabama.
[01:42:20] I was going to a big church,
[01:42:22] Assembly of God Church there,
[01:42:24] Evangel Temple.
[01:42:25] And I was friends with Mary Woodall
[01:42:27] who she was a lady in her 70s
[01:42:30] and just a godly woman of prayer
[01:42:32] and believed in the miracles and supernatural.
[01:42:36] She did a meeting every Tuesday morning
[01:42:38] called Miracle Service.
[01:42:39] I mean, she'd have 70, 80 women show up.
[01:42:42] And I'm talking about from all over the city,
[01:42:45] you know, different churches,
[01:42:46] different denominations would come together.
[01:42:48] It was a powerful thing.
[01:42:49] And she asked me to come speak for her
[01:42:52] on several occasions.
[01:42:53] I would go speak to the ladies group there.
[01:42:56] We had a great time.
[01:42:57] And I went one time and taught on deliverance,
[01:43:00] deliverance for Christians.
[01:43:01] And she came up to me afterwards.
[01:43:03] And, you know, after I took about an hour and a half
[01:43:05] to go through the systematically teach,
[01:43:07] yes, Christians can have demons and need deliverance.
[01:43:09] And it's biblical.
[01:43:10] And I can show you.
[01:43:12] So I'd gone through all that.
[01:43:14] And she said, you know,
[01:43:15] there's one of our ladies that she's,
[01:43:18] I know she needs deliverance because she's,
[01:43:21] she's just, her life has gone so bad.
[01:43:24] She's just, she's crippled.
[01:43:25] Like her legs just terrible arthritis set up
[01:43:29] in her knees and her legs.
[01:43:31] And she had been confined to a wheelchair.
[01:43:34] And Mary would all just again,
[01:43:36] she just was here from the Holy Spirit.
[01:43:37] She said, I just feel like she needs deliverance.
[01:43:39] So she said,
[01:43:40] would you set up a time to go pray with her?
[01:43:43] And I said, sure.
[01:43:44] So me and Mary went to pray with this lady.
[01:43:47] I happen to be Mary Elizabeth as well.
[01:43:50] Her name was.
[01:43:52] And we're praying for it.
[01:43:54] And we had, you know,
[01:43:55] I had her do the pre deliverance questionnaire
[01:43:57] and all that stuff.
[01:43:58] And so we start praying through stuff.
[01:44:01] And it's kind of like we're not getting anywhere.
[01:44:04] It's like I just felt like everything was blocked
[01:44:06] and being hindered.
[01:44:07] And I was like, what's going on?
[01:44:09] And basically what it came down to was we figured out
[01:44:14] that she hated her ex-husband.
[01:44:18] And he had done her wrong
[01:44:21] and he had left her and her son
[01:44:24] and left them destitute
[01:44:26] and struggling financially and just abandoned them.
[01:44:29] And she really had unforgiveness
[01:44:32] in her heart toward this man.
[01:44:34] And I said, you have to forgive him
[01:44:36] or you're not going to get free.
[01:44:38] And I led her into a little prayer
[01:44:41] of first acknowledging that unforgiveness is sin
[01:44:43] and asked the Lord to forgive her.
[01:44:45] And then I said, you got to say out of your mouth,
[01:44:47] I forgive him.
[01:44:49] And I said, then you got to start blessing him
[01:44:51] and praying that God would do good in his life.
[01:44:54] And so she did.
[01:44:57] And she genuinely,
[01:44:58] she was in tears and no joke.
[01:45:01] As soon as she forgave her husband, her ex-husband,
[01:45:05] I started to pray for her and the Lord said,
[01:45:08] tell her that I said for her to rise up and walk.
[01:45:12] It wasn't me.
[01:45:17] I said, Mary Elizabeth, the Lord told me to tell you
[01:45:21] that he said for you to rise up and walk.
[01:45:25] Your sins are forgiven and you're delivered from this
[01:45:29] because it was actually her sin of unforgiveness
[01:45:33] and bitterness that had put her in the chair.
[01:45:39] She stood up healed and started walking
[01:45:44] and walked from then on.
[01:45:46] And I learned a valuable lesson that day.
[01:45:50] I had another guy come from deliverance in our church.
[01:45:53] And when I pastored in Montgomery,
[01:45:56] demons were throwing him up against the walls
[01:45:58] and throwing him on the ground.
[01:46:00] And I mean, they would just talk through him
[01:46:02] and growl through him.
[01:46:03] And I was like, what is?
[01:46:04] I mean, he was from like up north a little bit.
[01:46:08] And they were like, we got to get him down to this church.
[01:46:10] Well, I had my associate pastor.
[01:46:12] We were trying to get the demons out of this guy.
[01:46:15] And it was like it was going nowhere.
[01:46:17] And I was like, what is going on?
[01:46:20] So finally, he was sitting in my office
[01:46:22] like in the chair in front of my desk.
[01:46:24] And I just was tired of it.
[01:46:27] So I yelled at him.
[01:46:28] I said, you're going to tell me
[01:46:30] why there is an open door in your life for this devil.
[01:46:34] The demons picked him up and threw him out of the chair
[01:46:37] into the wall like several feet back.
[01:46:40] And he slid down the wall and started crying.
[01:46:43] And his own voice came back and he said,
[01:46:46] crying with, I hate my ex-wife.
[01:46:50] I was like, well, there you go.
[01:46:52] That's why you have demons, son.
[01:46:55] And we got him to forgive his ex-wife
[01:46:59] and to pray through all that.
[01:47:01] And then we were able to finish his deliverance.
[01:47:04] So this is why this issue is so important to deal with,
[01:47:07] offense, unforgiveness, bitterness,
[01:47:10] because it will make you sick.
[01:47:12] It will open doors to demons
[01:47:14] to cause all kind of problems in your life.
[01:47:17] So I thought I would share that with you.
[01:47:21] All right.
[01:47:23] Well, you all know the drill.
[01:47:25] Hug some necks before you leave.
[01:47:27] We are going to eat downstairs afterwards.
[01:47:29] So if you want to stay, you're welcome to stay.
[01:47:31] Go get something at a local restaurant,
[01:47:34] or whatever you want, and come back,
[01:47:36] and we'll be here for the next few hours
[01:47:38] so we don't go anywhere.
[01:47:40] All right.
[01:47:41] God bless.